We have two documented stick insects on the island. Western Short Horned (Parabascilus sp) and the endemic. If someone could double check that this is not the pserdosermyle straminae found in Southern California I'd greatly appreciate it. I cannot find any photos of the p. catalinae.

that P. catalinae is the only species in the genus found on the island. I won't conjecture about whether it is truly a different species from P. straminea (though I have doubts), but your's appears to be correctly identified from what I can see in the picture. A clear view of the cerci would make it certain. Also, I don't think anyone has ever figured a male of P. catalinae. It would be fun to see one (including some close-ups of the tip of the abdomen).

I have moved on from my position on Catalina, so acquiring another photo of this insect has some challenges. However, Rentz and Weissmann described this species and give many morphological differences between the two species, but genetic profiling would be awesome to see how distantly P. catalinae diverged.

One interesting thing is that some of the mainland "P. straminea" insects seem to fit the description of P. catalinae quite nicely too (at least based on appearances in photos). Definitely a group that could use some more attention.

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.